Real-Time Animal Web cams

DEFINITION: Live web cams use small digital cameras to capture images in
Real-Time
and post them to a web site.

There are a number of web cams on the James Reserve
Wildlife Observatory that provide the opportunity to view animals in their natural habitat.
Just click on one of the web cam links.

Click on any of the web cams and record the current weather
conditions.

If you are not able to see many animals in the web cam
shots, you can try going to the backup sites above.

Note the Time and Date Stamp on all of the web cam shots. The
James Reserve Wildlife Observatory is located in California and therefore
the time is
reported in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

If it is dark
in some of the pictures, it may be night time there!

Introduce topics such as bird habitat

What comprises
a habitat? How might the habitat differ from that of similar birds in a zoo?
(In terms of space, flight range, size of flock, availability of mates, new ranges available for young, etc.)

Identify bird species based on geographic location.

What kind of
birds might you see at a local feeder?

What birds are the same? Different?
What is the explanation for that? (Note: students can enter a zip code or
click on a map for a guide
to birds and animals in that area.)

Check out the weather in the area where the feeder is located. How is it
different from where you live? How might it affect the birds? How might it
affect what kinds of birds you see at the feeder and when?

Research how culture can affect the extinction of an animal (e.g. how hats help led to the extinction of
several bird species)

Language Arts -

Brainstorm bird expressions
(e.g. birds-eye view, bird brain, the early bird gets the worm, a bird in the
hand..., kill two birds with one stone, etc.)

Study how these idioms reflect past attitudes and
practices towards birds? (e.g. Did you know that the crow may be closer to humans than any other
animal in terms of the ability to adapt?)

Compare cultural
language expressions

Math - Determine the time difference between the web cams and your location

Classroom
FeederWatch ($):Research and interdisciplinary education curriculum designed
for students in grades 5-8 by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, with
funding from the National Science Foundation. Students learn how science and
scientists work, and in the process become scientists themselves. The
students fully participate in an annual feeder-bird survey conducted by
ornithologists at the Lab.